L.A. County plans to check immigration status of all inmates [Updated]
2:40 PM | May 13, 2009


[Updated, 3:15 p.m. All local police agencies in Los Angeles County plan to begin screening the immigration status of all inmates booked into jails.]

Los Angeles County plans to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into its jails this month in an effort to identify and deport more illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Sheriff’s employees will run the inmates’ fingerprints through federal databases to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system and will place holds on those believed to be in the country illegally. Once they have completed serving their sentences, the inmates will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation.

The Los Angeles County Jail began working with federal immigration agents in 2006 to screen inmates, but officials said the new federal program is much more accurate than the current system because all inmates — not just the ones who say they are foreign-born — will be checked.

“There is another layer of screening going on,â€